The Less You Say, The Bigger The Fee You’ll Get

Editor’s Note: Every Monday, Jeff Allen offers you a tip about what you should do to ensure you never miss out — or get beat out– of your well-earned fee.

What Client Says:

We didn’t hire, but referred the candidate to someone else.

How Client Pays:

Since the client isn’t in the placement business, you’ll be unable to show that it intended to charge a fee. The recipient will deny that it even knew who you were up to the time of the hire.

The way to get paid is to:

Check your fee schedule for any words that might be used to hold the client liable.

Get the candidate to tell you how the contact with the recipient occurred.

Invoice both, and wait patiently for 30 days (no more). Then if you don’t receive payment from either the client or the recipient, ask for a written explanation of why. Do not attempt to explain your position, send any documentation, threaten or take any action until you receive that written explanation.

The biggest mistake recruiters make is to turn over their arguments and evidence too early.

The biggest fees they get is from nursing that documentation out of the parties, then having them point fingers at each other!

Share this Entry

About the Author

More than thirty-five years ago, Jeffrey G. Allen, J.D., C.P.C. turned a decade of recruiting and human resources management into the legal specialty of placement law. Since 1975, Jeff has collected more placement fees, litigated more trade secrets cases, and assisted more placement practitioners than anyone else. From individuals to multinational corporations in every phase of staffing, his name is synonymous with competent legal representation. Jeff holds four certifications in placement and is the author of 24 popular books in the career field, including bestsellers How to Turn an Interview into a Job, The Complete Q&A Job Interview Book and the revolutionary Instant Interviews. As the world?s leading placement lawyer, Jeff?s experience includes: Thirty-five years of law practice specializing in representation of staffing businesses and practitioners; Author of ?The Allen Law?--the only placement information trade secrets law in the United States; Expert witness on employment and placement matters; Recruiter and staffing service office manager; Human resources manager for major employers; Certified Personnel Consultant, Certified Placement Counselor, Certified Employment Specialist and Certified Search Specialist designations; Cofounder of the national Certified Search Specialist program; Special Advisor to the American Employment Association; General Counsel to the California Association of Personnel Consultants (honorary lifetime membership conferred); Founder and Director of the National Placement Law Center; Recipient of the Staffing Industry Lifetime Achievement Award; Advisor to national, regional and state trade associations on legal, ethics and legislative matters; Author of The Placement Strategy Handbook, Placement Management, The National Placement Law Center Fee Collection Guide and The Best of Jeff Allen, published by Search Research Institute exclusively for the staffing industry; and Producer of the EMPLAW Audio Series on employment law matters. Email him at jeff@placementlaw.com.

Subscribe

As recruiters, we are no doubt aware that competition exists on every account and every project. Adding to that complexity, every company wants you to find the elusive purple squirrel. In the April report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Job Openings and Labor Turnover, the number of open jobs has surpassed…

There’s a lot of conversation lately about texts replacing email for conversations with candidates. It’s the latest round in the, “What cloaking technology can I use to put a screen between me and the candidate so I don’t have to talk to a person live because that’s just too uncomfortably real in my…

Dear Barb: I have blanked for a while now and am short of my goals. It takes anywhere from six to eight weeks for me to place a controller or CFO. How can I become more consistent when the hiring process at this level takes so long? Carl S., St. Louis, MO Know…

Job candidates sometimes bash recruiters. Most of the complaints are due to their misunderstanding of a recruiter’s role. However, some of the issues are valid. Whether the complaints are justified or not, ultimately, it is in the recruiter’s best interest to build relationships and protect his reputation. As we all know, job seekers…

There are so many advantages to having a blended business model that includes both direct hire and contract staffing. You get the best of both worlds – the large placement fee checks from your direct hire placements and the consistent, steady income of contract staffing. Providing contract staffing services also builds client loyalty…

As a small business owner, you have a lot on your plate. You’re managing your business’ value in the marketplace on a daily basis while at the same time striving to maintain superior customer service and employee satisfaction. There’s a lot on your mind and the minds of your employees, too. Some days,…

In sharp contrast to the so-so financial results of the other publicly held careers publishers, LinkedIn today released numbers so far above expectations that one news service said the results “crushes” the estimates. Where the average of financial forecasts put the earnings per share at 30 cents on $679.8 million of revenue, LinkedIn…

Despite continuing to see erosion in its North American business, Monster beat Wall Street’s financial expectations for the 2nd quarter. Its stock price jumped almost 10% on the news. The company reported earning 10 cents a share on total revenue of $180.4 million. Analysts were forecasting 8 cents after excluding certain expenses. Including…

I read a post a on ERE.net last year titled “Speed. Price. Quality. Are Your Recruiters Sacrificing One of the Above?” that I thought was fantastic. As many of you probably know, ERE is geared primarily to corporate recruiters, whereas Fordyce is geared to agency recruiters. There were two specific things the author…

Dear Barb: I have been placing engineers for the past 10 years in manufacturing. I had a decent year last year, but wonder if I should consider a new niche in the future. Each year it seems like more and more manufacturing is done in China or other countries that have cheaper labor….